Where to find rental QTVR lenses in NYC

March 6, 2007 8:44 AM

Where to rent a 360 degree lens, in the greater New York City area, for QTVR creation ?

I'm looking to rent something like the Kaidan 360 degree VR lens or something like this lens for some interior shots of an office building, to create a QuickTimeVR virtual tour. Although I think QTVR is neat, I don't want to lay out the cash for the lens, since I'm thinking this will be a one-time thing only. (For personal stuff I just do stitched panoramics with Autostitch) It looks like most of the QTVR-tagged stuff on MeFi concerns using the multiple shoot n' stitch approach.

Anyone have an idea who would rent this ? No joy with rentglass.com or the Adorama rentals department, and google comes up dry with the search terms I put in (although apparently it's easy to rent one in the UK according to the google results). I came across one company, the maker of one of the lenses I believe, but they rent a full rig of camera, tripod, and lens-- I only really need the lens.

I'm looking for a threaded lens to put on a lens adapter for a compact digital, or a Canon EF mount.

Manhattan would be ideal, as I'll be doing the work in Chelsea, but since I live in NJ I could easily go somewhere there.

Thanks much MeFites !

posted by GreenTentacle to Technology (6 answers total)

You might not need anything that elaborate.

Perhaps you can make do with a regular wide angle lense, lots of memory sticks, and this web site.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:47 AM on March 6, 2007

Response by poster: Yeah, I've used autostitch quite a bit (see above), but this particular project needs the QTVR all-at-once shot. I'm trying to stay away from the issues of shoot-and-stitch.
posted by GreenTentacle at 11:08 AM on March 6, 2007

Sorry, I didn't read carefully enough.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:24 AM on March 6, 2007

I believe Bergen County Camera in Westwood rents equipment. Not sure if they have what you are looking for, but might be worth a call. They are really helpful, so they might know where you can find it if they don't have it.
posted by xsquared-1 at 12:03 PM on March 6, 2007

Have you tried asking on lightstalkers? Perhaps some friendly soul will help you out...
posted by suedehead at 2:55 PM on March 6, 2007

If you're talking about 0-360 I doubt you'll be able to rent a lense for less than $100. Consider the tripod as a fancy paperweight.

If this was more than a one time thing I'd recommend rolling your own. All you need is a 360 dome, a short piece of rod, a UV filter and some epoxy. I've done it with a plain mirrored Christmas tree ball but the results aren't all that great because the Christmas ornament isn't optical quality for some reason.
posted by Mitheral at 6:26 PM on March 6, 2007